Addressing Inequities: The Role of Medical Education on Maternal Mortality
Open Access
- Author:
- Atighechi, Setareh
- Area of Honors:
- Health Humanities
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Stacey Ann Conway Saxton, Thesis Supervisor
David Ruth, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- racial bias
maternal mortality
racism
healthcare
black infants
black mothers
mental health black women - Abstract:
- The United States is facing a worsening maternal mortality crisis that is disproportionately affecting Black women, who are significantly more likely than their White counterparts to die due to pregnancy-related causes. Despite technological and medical advances being made in healthcare, the historical inequalities embedded in the U.S. healthcare system persist, contributing to the unequal health outcomes seen in Black mothers. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of healthcare institutions in addressing these disparities. Specifically, this project considers the ways in which diversity-centered education and interventions can mitigate racial inequities seen in maternal health today. This is a qualitative study that utilized an extensive review of the current literature and expert interviews, to study the efficacy of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in medical education and healthcare institutions. Findings revealed that the current maternal mortality crisis is closely intertwined with systemic racism, insufficient training on social determinants of health, and biases within healthcare practices and medical education. This study showcases the urgency for medical education programs to integrate comprehensive DEI training across their curricula. When reviewing the most recent literature and conducting expert interviews, recurring themes on effective strategies to combat the maternal mortality crisis continued to arise. These include bias training and interventions, community-based participatory research and diversification of the healthcare workforce. This study contributes to the current discussion on maternal mortality by demonstrating the need for diversity to be systematically taught across medical education programs if racial disparity health outcomes are to be addressed. The U.S. has recently acknowledged that racism is a public health threat and recognizes that it is the root cause of many health disparities. Thus, without appropriate diversity training programs and initiatives being incorporated into medical education, healthcare institutions will effectively be upholding and protecting the race-based inequities seen throughout the United States healthcare system, resulting in more generations of Black women and children being affected by this crisis.